Leech Lake Indian Reservation

“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”

– Ecclesiastes 11:4, NIV

The end of the year is upon us, and we need to finish strong. ‘Strong’ for us means that we have a sharp increase on the pledge side of our ledger. Our barns are not yet full. From our vantage point of life under the sun, we don’t see hope for our mission. That’s why we need faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1).

Looking at the economy over the last few years and reflecting on the many trials we have endured on this long winding road to the mission field, things don’t look good. Winds of change have prevailed against us numerous times over the last couple years, yet hundreds of people persist in praying for us. But we are still waiting for the answer to those prayers. We don’t know when the Lord will allow us to reap what we’ve sown, so we continue to plant.

Planting with Pledges

With the end of the year approaching, we anticipate a certain amount of people will give us financial gifts of all sizes. End-of-the-year gifts are needed because of either regular or extra expenses. During our team-building phase of ministry, we need money to cover traveling, communication, training, and our stipend. BUT the journey to the mission field would be a whole lot shorter if people would commit to a pledge.

A pledge is the actual stepping stone that paves the way to the field. If all those year-end gifts were actually pledges for the next four years, we would probably be on our way to the field.

Missionaries never know what will come in at the end of the year. That’s why we can’t really budget according to one-time/special gifts. We need people to commit to a pledge for at least four years. So much of the end-of-the-year giving ends up being used for more travel, more communication, more newsletters asking for pledges. Again, all financial gifts are used for ministry, but we are hoping and praying that we would move to the next phase of our ministry on the field at the Mokahum Ministry Center. But we can’t do that without … you guessed it … pledges.

Planting with New Partnerships

In the meantime, we are currently working with CHIEF Ministries and Third Millennium Ministries as they coordinate a special project together involving 500 Native pastors and leaders. There will be a conference for Native American/First Nations pastors and Christian leaders July 2017. Five hundred Native Christian leaders will be given an introductory thumb drive that contains nearly half of the Third Mill curriculum. That’s about one-year of seminary education for FREE with more online.Imagine the potential!

Please pray for us. We do not have a team of marketing campaigners, development officers, or callers. It’s just us. We are striving as hard as we can to reach the field, but it’s not enough. We need the Lord to move on our behalf. We need more support. We need a bigger team. We are depending on our support team to introduce us to more people who may want to join us. Please pray about that and contact us.

Just give us a call. Text us. Email us. Skype with us. Go online to MTW.org and search out our name under the Give page. On the back of this page, there are all the various ways to contact us and different ways to give. Let’s talk. Let’s get together. Consider having a home gathering with friends.

By faith we are going into another year of the unknown, yet we are confident the Lord is with us and has already gone before us. So we plod on. We pray that He is calling you to join us on our journey to Indian Country through the Mokahum Ministry Center on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation near Bemidji, MN. The King awaits our arrival. Will you join us?